Posted on Tuesday,

Our Changing World – Strange Days Indeed

The world has changed. Your world and the economy as you know it has totally changed – and not for the better in the short-term. We must face facts. The next two quarters will be brutal. But this is the time to stay focused because we will all get through this. When you’re in hell, you keep going.

But sometimes, in a crisis, we decide to be honest about our situation (even if it’s not fun), consider the worst-case scenarios (which may not become the case for our business), determine the actual facts of the situation in relation to our unique business (without panic), consider all resources (we may have more than we realize), cut out spending (which isn’t a bad idea even in healthy times) and take appropriate action (that’s what you are in leadership for.)

For many, part of this process will be to take advantage of the Federal Coronavirus Relief Bill. Work with your CPA, lawyer, and banker now! See some summary pieces and the simple applications here.

Thoughts On Remote Work

All my clients are now working remotely. Some companies were progressive and pushed for being ready; others were in denial until the state governors issued stay at home orders.

I’ve been working remotely for the last 15 years as a trusted business advisor and virtual CFO to businesses around the country. Now everyone is working remotely (or WFH – work from home). I am lucky to have a great office space above my detached garage. It’s interesting, with such an increase in video calls, to see how else is using their remote/home space. Interacting with and leading remote teams is much different for some, where it’s business as usual for those who have been working virtually for years.

Many of my clients are using (and loving) Microsoft Team. I like it too (though I prefer NOZBE Teams.) Many other tools are now becoming well-known such as Zoom, Asana, Basecamp, and more.

The tool you pick is important, but what’s more important is how you use it. Try to mirror some of the same standards, schedules, and communication guidelines that would be in place in the on-location office. These virtual tools help you be able to carry on in a similar way … yet do understand that your team is going through a major change that is likely affecting (sometimes deeply) their personal lives, level of distraction, and emotions. Show some grace for a while, while keeping some standards and routines that will provide structure and even, respite, from the onslaught of information and fear.

Let me know if I can be of help to your team during this scary but also potentially beneficial (in some ways) time. Contact me here.

Posted on Friday,

Stop Wearing So Many Hats: Who Can Help You?

I see it all the time as I travel the country talking to business owners. They try to do everything. Sales, HR, Operations, Marketing, Accounting, and oh yeah … leadership.

It’s time to delegate responsibilities and focus on what you’re good at – delegate, double-check and disappear (or go do what you’re good at.)

Generally, business owners develop their skills and expertise through sales, operations, tech, or the finance side of business. Most of the business owners I talk to cut their teeth on sales which makes sense based on their “take action” personality types. This works great – in business, sales start everything.

However, what most business owners are weakest at is their accounting and finance skills.

They understand the P&L. Simple – sales minus cost minus expense equals net income. However, they generally don’t want to understand the balance sheet or cash flow.

I find the biggest need for these businesses I’ve been talking to recently is 1) a complete understanding of their financial statements (the business report card) and 2) clean, basic reporting for visibility and accountability. This includes tracking key business drivers for profit, asset velocity, business efficiency, corporate effectiveness, and cash flow.

I find the biggest need for these businesses I’ve been talking to recently is a complete understanding of the financial statements (your report card) and clean basic reporting for visibility and accountability tracking key business drivers for profit, asset velocity, business efficiency, corporate effectiveness, and cash flow.

Many of these owners don’t trust their numbers and therefore they run things by the seat of their pants. With data analytics tools now, it’s easy to get real-time data to look at customer psychometrics and data, as long as the information is current. That often takes delegation to someone (for lack of a better term) more excited about keeping up with it. You don’t have to be the accountant to understand the basics that will help you make the best decisions you can for your business. Who can you utilize on your team that will help you have the data you need?

So delegate it, double-check by getting regular updates, and spend the bulk of your time doing what YOU do best!

If your business doesn’t have this system in place, let’s talk.

Posted on Thursday,

The Importance of Checklists and Forms

We all need checklists in our life. It sucks, but for most of us it’s the only way to stay consistent. Yet I know very few people who use them.

I wouldn’t be able to keep up with all the details I have to manage without checklists. I have a morning routine checklist a work start-up and shutdown checklist, a Monday checklist for each client, one for daily workouts, etc.

I might need a checklist for my checklists!

You might laugh, but checklists do two valuable things for me:

Do what I have planned for the week
Push me to stay consistent.

We can randomly travel through life without a plan, but that tends to lead to speculation of “Where did the time go?” or “I thought I’d be in a different place in life/health/etc. at this point.”

Being intentional is critical in every area of life. Your house wasn’t built without a plan. Your car was checked numerous times in production. Hopefully, your medical practitioners have a checklist for procedures – even ones they do daily.

One of my clients is a start-up company and I am helping them develop processes and procedures. We are putting together checklists to make sure we don’t miss anything. It’s really a brilliant thing to do early on in a business. Now we have repeatable steps for training, and the ability to brainstorm and maximize the 80/20 rule for maximum efficiency. Taking the thinking out of basic, recurring tasks reduces mental fatigue. By documenting workflow, it helps any employee who takes on that responsibility to develop consistency. It helps if they go on vacation — their sub can keep the ball rolling. And the work is done in a recognizable way. As we build these procedures, we are creating screen-cast recordings as a training and reference tool.

How about you? Do you have your everyday/every week/ every month processes written down into checklists? Don’t let the idea of it being too elementary keep you from doing it. It’s actually the opposite–it elevates your business in a way that will make it stand out from those who just “go with the flow.”

Resources:

I recommend the books The E-myth Revisited and The Checklist Manifesto.

My resource page.

Suggested checklists:

A basic meeting checklist for most meetings
Month-end financial statement closing checklist
New project/idea checklist
New hire and onboarding checklist
Sales meeting checklist
Annual strategy planning checklist
New Habit checklist – (I love the app Habit List – although I didn’t make it a habit to use it 🙂

Posted on Tuesday,

The Shoemaker’s Son …

You know the old saying, “The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot?”

Some time ago, as I prepared the books for MY consulting company tax return, I quickly noticed how long it had been since I did a ‘hard-close’ on my own books. Irony.

I harp on my clients–“Keep your books and records 100% up-to-date.” Most of them using a formal checklist process every month. Me? I have no excuse really. It came back home to me how important these seemingly tedious and unimportant routine tasks really are. To catch up, I had to trace back several months, update the bank feeds, reconcile all my accounts to the bank statements to get everything 100% up-to-date. It would have been FAR easier if I’d just taken care of the basics every month!

One of my colleagues doesn’t feel like numbers are her strongest thing, but she has a small business and has to keep up with them. She faithfully updates accounts, invoicing, and records, reconciling her accounts nearly every week. She’s come to terms that those two hours or so a week provide a sort of audit and help her catch the items that don’t add up. Reconciling every week may sound like overkill, but for her, it’s providing peace of mind–bills are paid, potential missing items are found, duplicates avoided–that regular routine works for her.

At least every month, all businesses, big and small, should go through a hard close with the following in place:

All accounts are reconciled.
The three GAAP financial statements are up-to-date.
Simple historical information with key graphs are current.
A checklist is kept, with items updated, in a document that can be referred to each month. I look at companies all the time who have bad record keeping. And – they never look at the basic financial statements. Or if they do, they have no idea what they’re looking at. I give them them a simple month-end checklist process with hard deadlines and process to fully understand the financial results and predict future outcomes. The value of this basic process can be incredible to drive profitability and cash flow. Looking at my own info revealed 2 significant issues that needed to be addressed which I won’t discuss – but both effected my profitability over time and short term cash flow improvement.

Done.

I look at companies all the time who have bad record-keeping habits. In addition, they never look at the basic financial statements! Or if they do, they have no idea what they’re looking at. To help, I give them them a simple month-end checklist process with hard deadlines and a repeatable process to fully understand the financial results and predict future outcomes. The value of this basic process can be incredible to drive profitability and cash flow. When I (finally) looked at my own info, I found two significant issues that needed to be addressed which both affected my profitability over time and short term cash flow improvement.

I preach consistent timely reporting of key indicators – revenue, profit, cash flow, other relative key indicators. Yet, as a solopreneur, I struggle keeping up with own bookkeeping on a consistent basis.

If it seems I’m better seeing every else’s problems, it makes sense. Many of us do that. There are mechanics who postpone repairs on their cars. Fitness center workers not taking time to workout. Housekeepers not cleaning their own house. Insurance agents not purchasing the best policies for their own families. And yes, CFO’s not keeping their books up-to-date. But I learned that I don’t want to continue with that habit. My first client needs to be ME.

Posted on Friday,

Finish Strong!

It’s late in the fourth quarter, and 2017 is almost in the history book. With very few days left in the year, we need to continue to be committed and passionate to push hard to finish our year strong.

I generally compete in several running events and triathlons each year all over New York State. Though I’ve gotten much slower in the last few years, my race day mantra (which seems successful to me) is always similar – get up early, be prepared, start steady, and finish the second half of the race strong.

As my friend JB says – Finish Strong! Same in our businesses.

This year for the first time, I focused on reviewing my goals almost daily in my morning routine throughout the year. The process of reviewing my annual and quarterly goals for 10 minutes a day really helped me to focus on important things and accomplish much more this year. Even so, some of my goals are way off track.

The key for me is not to get discouraged. As the year ends, we need to finish strong and focus on an even stronger year next year. I am always amazed on how little seems to get accomplished in one year and how much seems gets accomplished in five years. The continual improvement over time makes huge gains in our businesses and our lives.

This is a great time of the year to step back, finish the last couple of weeks strong, and plan for next year’s huge gains.

Here are a couple tips I’ve been using this year as I step back to set my course for next year. I like to have my goals documented by the end of the year.

Recognized accomplishments and failures over the last year. What went great; what went terribly. Don’t dwell on the failures – they happened, they’re behind us, and we can learn from them. We need to address them, autopsy them, then put them behind us.
Understand and believe in abundance, positive thinking, and limitless possibilities. I see the enemy and he is me. Think Elon Musk. We need commitment and believe in a great future of possibilities. I need to think more abundance versus scarcity.
Write down 7-10 goals. We are much more likely to complete goals that are written down. The simple fact of just writing them down will greatly improve your performance. We all know it; no one does it. Have the top 3 for the upcoming quarter – again, written down.
Rekindle passion and commitment to all projects and goals. Staying with some of your projects and goals is sometimes too much. This is why we quit. We lose sight of the key motivations that we initially had. The Why. Understand your ‘why’ on each one of your goals. If the goal isn’t a hell yes! – it’s a no.
Stretch and be uncomfortable with goals. This is where the growth and development come from. Ask any high performer – they are rarely in their comfort zone. Set stretch goals.

And keep yourself accountable. I use Evernote and Nozbe (arguably the two best apps ever) and check my goals and progress weekly with a formal weekly review. It is important to keep your goals in front of you and yourself accountable to action moving them forward.

Happy Holidays everyone – enjoy this time of the year. I find this a great time to contemplate the past year, be grateful for simple things, enjoy our families, and set out a written plan for next year.

Let’s all finish strong together and go long in 2018!

/jon

Posted on Thursday,

Flying Solo

It’s a love/hate scenario. The client I’ve worked with for the last 16 months is finally ready to get back on his own. Goals have been met and the company is in great shape. So, it’s time for me to go. I love it because this has been a successful relationship and the improvements we set out to do have been accomplished. I hate the idea because I love working with this company and yes, leaving will hurt my income.

When we started working together, our goal was to turn his company around. It had some major problems at the time and the books were in bad shape. Over those 16 months, we developed an operating plan, did the weekly cash flow updates and re-forecasted cash, developed a month-end close, worked on the inventory costing system, and many more processes.

The client did a fantastic job of making changes. He worked diligently with sales, the production staff, and customers. The company went from a retained deficit to consistent profitability and $2+MM EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) with very little capital injection. I loved working with the controller and the finance team. They went the extra mile to implement the processes for the necessary improvements. It truly is a great success story. But as we wind up the CPA audit and the second quarter, it’s time for the bird to fly on its own. I believe the company is ready to soar, despite my mixed feelings on leaving.

However, I will stay involved on a quarterly basis and the company may have some specific project work, but the day-to-day assistance will end. It will be good to still have a connection and get to witness growth and success as the company moves ahead. After all, a fractional CFO comes in to create the foundation and educate owners on how to be his or her own CFO. That is exciting work and personally rewarding as processes are put in place that makes that goal happen. The reality is when the owner is ready to fly solo, they are ready to fly solo and I move on to help the next client realize his or her business success.

How can I help your company soar? Contact me and schedule a call.

Posted on Tuesday,

Vital vs. Trivial: Becoming More Effective

I get obsessed with 80/20 thinking. You’re probably familiar with the Pareto 80/20 theory that was named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1896. It’s the doctrine of the vital few vs. the trivial many. The theory was based on his research that 80% of the effects came from 20% of the causes. Simple thinking that has been proven time and time again in organizations. An examination of where your sales are being generated will likely reveal that 80% of sales are coming from 20% of the same customers.

In the arena of time management the application of 80/20 thinking can direct us to be more effective. Here are a few basic bullet points that reveal the workings of the doctrine of the vital few and the trivial many from the book 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch:

There are only a few things that ever produce important results.
Most efforts do not realize their intended results.
What you see is generally not what you get: there are subterranean forces at work.
It is usually too complicated and too wearisome to work out what is happening. It’s also unnecessary. All you need to know is whether something is working or not and change the mix until it is; then keep the mix constant until it stops working.
Most good events happened because of a small minority of highly productive forces; most bad things happen because of a small minority of highly destructive forces.
The majority of activities, en masse and individually are actually a waste of time. They will not contribute materially to the desired results.

I love the idea here, but it’s easy to lose sight and get focused on the trivial many. We high achievers give ourselves credit for accomplishing so much. But we’re not always getting the right stuff done. We need to continually keep this in mind. I’ve built an 80/20 segment into my morning routine checklist. Yes, it may sound crazy, but it helps me remember the doctrine of the vital few and the trivial many in all areas of my life—my business, my clients’ businesses, my health and fitness, my family life, and my happiness. Intentionally focusing on the vital few keeps me from wasting time and effort on the trivial many which easily diverts my attention.

Need help determining what’s vital to your business? Contact me.

Posted on Tuesday,

Finish Strong! The 80 Day Plan

It’s the fourth quarter ladies and gentleman. We can feel it in the air. With approximately 80 days left, we need to be organized, committed and passionate to push hard to finish our year strong.

Words to live by – finish strong.

This year I focused on reviewing my goals almost daily in my morning routine, which I honestly only end up doing 2-4 times per week. The process of reviewing my annual goals for 10 minutes a day really helped me to focus on important things and accomplish much more. Even so, some of my goals are simply way off track. Some of them need a big push now to be able to complete them by the end of the year, and in case you haven’t been counting, we only have approximately 80 days left in 2016!

Don’t panic though. 80 days is plenty of time to get important things done. I love short focused periods of time to make quantum steps. Think about what some people have gotten done in 80 continual days of focused work. I met a guy last Friday who is running for a tight race for a US Congress seat…with 30 days until the election, he has a super short-term focused to try to win. We talked about his plan. He’s getting an unbelievable amount accomplished in 30 days with a highly focused strategy. It was inspiring. I suggest all of us spend an hour or two this week to develop our 80 day plan. The 80 day plan idea invigorates action, it pushes us, and it helps create momentum right into the following year. The 80 day time frame is perfect.

Let’s start.

My 80 Day Process

Make a list: Write down 5-8 wants or needs to get done by the end of the year, and the corresponding tasks or activities to get done by December 31st. I update and print mine on Monday of each week. I put reminders on my calendar for follow up items and review the list again every Friday. I keep my “next action list” in Nozbe up-to-date to keep the goals moving forward.

Carve out quiet time: Another part of my ‘almost daily’ routine that I have been practicing for two years now is 10 minutes of silent time and meditation. I am certainly no expert here, but I’ve found the results to be incredible. I’m sensing less stress, enjoying more focus, making better decisions, and feeling better overall. It takes practice and patience, but believe me it gets easier over time.

There have been thousands of studies over thousands of years that discuss the significant benefits of meditation. I recommend everyone try it. Why not? I use an app called Calm by Tamara Levitt. I have also tried Headspace which seemed really good as well. For me, the key is just pushing play. I get up in the morning, drink a glass of water, make the coffee, and hit the button for the 10 minute daily calm. I recommend it as a daily ritual. My current goal is to incorporate this more than three times per week.

Keep yourself accountable: As I mentioned above, I check my list weekly. Keep your goals in front of you and adapt as needed along the way. Look forward to looking back at the end of the year to a productive and effective season in your life and business!

Here’s a spreadsheet that can help you take action with an 80-day-plan.

Let’s all finish strong together.

Posted on Wednesday,

Birthdays: A Great Time to Reflect and Regroup

I celebrated my birthday this weekend. June 4th. It’s probably my favorite day of the year. Our birthdays are important days for us. It’s interesting to me how Facebook helps bring out some old friendship connections. I love hearing from everyone–who doesn’t?

As I do every year, I like to take some time and reflect on my life–where I am, what am I doing, etc. I also use the time to regroup on my goals for the remaining portion of the year and what I need to do long term. Birthdays are very personal for all of us. Another lap around the sun and to many more!

I love the quote “life is like a roll of toilet paper.” It seems true, but as they say, “It is what it is.” The important thing is to focus on where we are and how much of the roll is left, how long can we extend the roll through healthy and productive living, and how are we are going to use the rest of the roll for something meaningful, profitable, and fulfilling.

My birthday is almost the halfway point for the year as well. It is a great time for the Q2 push for ourselves and our businesses.

Take time now in early June to look at where you are and where you expected to be and make a push to finish the first half of the year strong. I do a simple first half assessment personally and with all my clients. Start thinking about your business plan and start developing your second half year plan. More on that as we close out the quarter.

Thanks for the birthday wishes and cheers to a great year ahead!

Posted on Monday,

Congratulations, Graduates!

Congratulations to everyone who just graduated from college this year. It’s a huge accomplishment and graduates and parents of graduates should be quite proud. I am continually impressed with these young minds and spirits.

My daughter graduated this weekend from Fairfield University. I cannot express how impressed I am with her and her journey so far. She took college very seriously; she had fun, but really dove deep personally and educationally. She didn’t do what I did–ski and play rugby (need I say more)–but she really stepped up, raised her standards and worked hard, finishing with an impressive GPA with two minors.

To me, education is like the compounding of interest. It’s interest income on interest income. I call it the compounding of education. The smarter you are, the smarter you can become. It’s an awesome concept.

Now the rubber meets the road for these graduates. Commencement isn’t the end, it’s the beginning. How are these graduates with these expensive educations going to make a difference in the world? That’s up to them.

I listened to the Fairfield commencement speaker, who did a fantastic job, say: “The world’s is tough place. Things don’t always go as planned. Work hard for the greater good.”

As I sat there, I thought of other great commencement speeches I’ve heard: Steve Jobs, Kurt Vonnegut, Sheryl Sandberg and many others. And I asked myself, “If I was ever a commencement speaker, what wisdom would I like to impart on the audience?”

I would give them credit for the work they just completed. For four years, even if they didn’t work super hard, they committed the time and had the persistence to finish something. That’s a great accomplishment in itself. I would encourage taking risks, dreaming big, daring to fail. I would tell them to never drive drunk or get in a car with anyone who was. I learned this when I was 20. My roommate was a passenger in a late night head-on and was killed–he was 19. That was a wake up call.

I would tell them to do something I don’t think I did too well. Enjoy the ride, every step of the way. We all get only one lap around the track. Know this now. Go after it, but remember to enjoy it. I see that all the time now. Another wake up call.

I would tell them to spend daily time meditating; that humans are the only living creature that doesn’t live only by instinct. We can at any point change the path we are are on. I would encourage setting and writing down goals and advise how to persist through the hard times that will occur through the their lives.

I would say: don’t procrastinate. Procrastination gets me into trouble constantly. When I address the hard issues head-on, I am much better off, every time. The times that I waited to the last minute and procrastinated on my decisions led to a harder situation or cost me lot of money.

I would encourage everyone to eat mostly plant based organic food, drink water first thing in the morning, and exercise at least five times per week. Believe me, with these three simple principles, you will perform better, be smarter, and statistically live much longer.

So cheers to all recent college grads – get out there and make a difference with your life, big or small. Find important work and dare to fail. Believe me, failure is not failure–it’s learning. Not trying is the only real failure.